"Our life is leaves drifting slowly earthward, rain softly falling, children being born and growing up to their own lives, friends conversing before an open fire, good food and good sleep."
--Irving Petit, Life on Tiger Mountain

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

A garden meme

Do you carefully read all of the seed catalogs sent to you and then browse the Internet to compare and contrast all the options, then decide which seeds to buy?

Why, yes. How did you know?

Do you buy seeds from 'bricks and mortar' stores and get whatever appeals to you as you are browsing?

Yes. Much as I try to avoid making eye contact with the seed racks at the nursery and the feed store, there is always something I just have to have.

Do you buy vegetable seeds in bulk where they scoop them out of seed bins, weigh them and put them in hand-marked envelopes?

No. I have to draw the line somewhere, don’t I? Oh, wait, that’s how I buy my seed for winter cover crops. Um, and my garlic starts. And seed potatoes.

Do you buy seeds for just vegetables, or just annual flowers? Do you buy seeds for perennial flowers?

Yes. Oh, yes! And Yes! Actually I’m just getting started with perennials from seed.

Do you know what stratification and scarification are? Have you done either or both with seeds?

But, of course! I have some seeds stratifying right now, as a matter of fact.

Do you order seeds from more than one seed company to save on shipping or buy from whoever has the seeds you want, even if it means paying nearly the same for shipping as you do for the actual seeds?

Heh. Last summer I got so carried away by an order with Thompson and Morgan that they waived all shipping charges. And gave me several packages of seed for free. Otherwise I try to keep it to one seed company a year. I try.

Do you buy more seeds than you could ever sow in one season?

Try “more than I could ever sow in this lifetime.”

Do you only buy seeds to direct sow into the garden or do you end up with flats of seedlings in any window of the house with decent light?

I end up withtubs of seedlings in the furnace room under grow lights, and on all the windowsills on the south side of the house. And did I mention the greenhouse?

Do you save your own seeds from year to year and exchange them with other seed savers?

Sometimes. More with flowers than with vegetables. I had a particularly nice volunteer pumpkin plant this year—no idea where it came from because I hadn’t bought or grown pumpkins in years—and I saved the seeds from that. Otherwise, I have so few vegetable gardening beds right now that I’m loathe to risk getting some weird hybrid crop.

Do you even buy seeds?

Ahem. See above.

Do you have a fear of seeds? Some gardeners don't try seeds, why not?

I used to fear seeds because they never came up. I’ve learned a few tricks along the way, such as covering the seed beds with polyester row covers, and setting mouse traps in the greenhouse. See, the seeds can’t germinate if they’ve been dug up and devoured by field mice or free-ranging chickens. Duh.

Do you understand seeds? I once bought seeds at a Walmart in January (Burpee Seeds) and the cashier asked me, "Do these really work? Yes, they do. "Isn't it too cold to plant them now?" Well, yes, if you are planning to plant them outside. I don't think this cashier grew up around anyone who gardened.

I understand that they can be temperamental little buggers.Thanks to the most excellent catalog put out by Johnny’s Seeds I finally understand what it takes to germinate pepper seeds. I couldn’t provide them with that environment naturally (they want a warmer house than I do), so they never came up.

Do you list all your seeds on a spreadsheet, so you can sort the list by when you should sow them so you have a master seed plan of sorts?

Oh, now that’s just sick!

Do you keep all the old seeds and seed packets from year to year, scattered about in various drawers, boxes, and baskets?